John Houghton's New Media Blog

I just came across a great article in the NY Times, talking about how companies are using online video to reach customers.  ”At a time when other categories of advertising dollars are shrinking, video ads are booming.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/business/media/11adco.html?_r=1

Big media are using online video, but you don’t have to be a big company to take advantage of it in your particular market.  For example, The Wall Street Journal sells pre-roll ads for its news stories and the thinking is a 20 second pre-roll is worth it for the user to get 3 – 5 minutes of well produced video.  WSJ incidentally is sold of its ad inventory.

A company can use this on a much smaller scale.  One of the most popular search phrases on the internet is “how to.”  People turn to the internet to find out how to all kinds of things.  If you are a detergent company, you can produce a video about how to remove certain stains from fabric.  If you are a motor oil manufacturer, you can produce videos on how to change the oil on 10 of the most popular vehicles.  Put a 20 second pre-roll on the video.  Learn how to promote video so that many thousands of people see it.

It’s one thing to hear about store closings but it’s another to have two of your neighborhood Blockbuster stores close.  That hits close to home.  I thought that maybe Blu-Ray would sustain them because 1080p programming is still pretty big for internet pipes and devices, therefore consumers would still frequent Blockbuster.  Not so.  According to their recent earnings announcement, Blockbuster will be closing 115 stores.  There are so many alternatives now, On Demand Movies, AppleTV (my favorite), Dish Network, Netflix and so on.  I can see how it would be hard for them to keep stores open, especially in Silicon Valley where there are so many geeks, like myself, that love to find new ways to receive programming.  On one hand, I like to see change and consumers adopting new and more efficient technologies.  On the other, I don’t like to see companies shutting stores.

US newspaper circulation is continuing it’s downward trend with San Francisco Chronicle suffering the largest loss of 26% from last year according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations via the Wall Street Journal. USA Today used to have the largest circulation, but with an approximate 17% drop in circulation, the former number two Wall Street Journal has risen to the top position.

After the WSJ published last Saturday’s editorial where the author endorsed insider trading, I predict if they keep pushing their point of view, their circulation too will be falling. I for one, considered canceling my subscription.

Just what you have been waiting for, a real world comparison of Twitter and Facebook. Which do you think provides better ROI for large marketers? I interviewed the social media strategist in charge of Oracle’s Twitter and Facebook programs and he has some surprising answers. Check the podcast at New Media Currents for details.

We just published a podcasts talking about how Salesforce.com uses online video to improve brand loyalty and increase sales.

http://www.newmediacurrents.com/10_NMC_10.13.09.mp3

It’s always great to see a case study of someone who is using the technology, talking about numbers and speaking openly about their practices. Podcast features the head of the video group as he talks about how they produce video, YouTube integration, and techniques to get the most bang for the buck. In the next day or two, we’ll be publishing a podcast with the person who heads up Oracle’s Facebook and Twitter initiatives. Check back regularly with New Media Currents.

Open world wrapped up yesterday with a keynote delivered in part by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. I covered the show via podcast and have a number of interesting podcast programs in production, to be released next week. My mission was to uncover what is working and what is not working in social media and to highlight social media offerings in prepackaged enterprise software. As the head of MobileCast Media, I am always asking other business leaders 1. if they are seeing signs of recovery 2. what is working right now for winning new business. We won’t deal with the economic questions here but I want to know what is working in marketing not only so I can not only fine tune my company’s own service offerings, but also best practices so that we can win some of our own new customers. You might gain some insights for your company by listening in.

As far as media is concerned, I’m not only interested in new/social media, but am interested in traditional media as well. Successful companies use a mix of media and I don’t advocate abandoning traditional. Change is hitting us so rapidly, not only the changes in how consumers are spending their time (Facebook, Twitter) but the economic downturn has also changed business and consumer buying behavior.

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This was the first day of Oracle Open World for me and I was impressed with the show. I saw a lot of integration with Sun for a solid hardware/software combination. It reminds me that things could go back to the old IBM model where one vendor owns the hardware and the software. In the CRM sessions, I can see that robust new Web 2.0 functionality is well within reach. Through extension, mobile capabilities were demonstrated, including lightweight customized mobile interfaces, complete with SMS messaging and Facebook posting. More tomorrow…

I’m interested to see how Oracle and it’s associates are embracing Web 2.0. If I find interesting stories, I’ll be blogging or podcasting, (check http://www.newmediacurrents.com) depending on what is most appropriate. Follow at #mediaman827.

A friend forwarded me an interesting article on using video to show impatient prospects what your company does. This article points out and I underscore the fact that just as in any medium, one must be very clear, concise and creative with video. I work with a lot of tech companies and frequently run across marketing techies who think because their camera records with the latest technology, that their video is going to be great. Often times these folks turn out a home made video that looks like it was shot by a teenager.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/11/the-underutilized-power-of-the-video-demo-to-explain-what-the-hell-you-actually-do/

Sad but true. Times are changing and with the rise of Craig’s List and online advertising, there are few big revenue streams available to newspapers. If they consider that they are in the news delivery business and proceed on that model, they might have an easier time. As we know old habits die hard as do old ways of thinking. Big three auto didn’t change their strategy quickly enough and look at the mess they’re in. I think newspaper companies needed to go digital a long time ago.

I get the Wall Street Journal every day, but only electronically. I was tired of newspapers piling up in my living room. I would love to get the Economist electronically, but they force you to get the physical version as well, so I don’t subscribe. It seems that a lot of these folks are interested in “pushing paper” to us, rather than pushing the news. If they gave it to me in electronic form (with ads) then they could have me as a customer. That probably has something to do with the Audit Bureau of Circulations and how they count “copies served.”

I love that WSJ is available in PDF version because a lot of my business associates read the print version, and with the PDF version (an exact copy of the headline pages for each section) I can see which important articles are prominently placed and are likely to be read by them. Without seeing that “ranking” everything is on a level playing field and I can’t cover it. It’s always nice to have read the same article and comment on it.

WSJ has been podcasting for a while and publishing video, however, they need to put more editorial effort into it before I start watching. I can tell that a lot of the effort/research has gone into the written word, so that’s what I focus on.